Sausage and Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash 

With fall announcing its arrival this past week, we’re going to be diving in head first into the world of pumpkin and squash this season. Not only because they’re delicious ingredients, but because they are nutritionally dense ones that feed your family and nourish their bodies, all at the same time. For this week’s dinner rotation, I’ve got a recipe for Sausage and Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash , sponsored by al fresco all natural sausage! 

Fall, the sole reason I live in New England. No, it’s not the beaches and it’s definitely not the snow. Once fall arrives, we all take a deep breathe. Granted, most of you might have kids in school that need to be ushered around and fed, and that’s where I’m here to help.

I’ve partnered up once again with al fresco sausage to showcase how much easier it is to use their sausage over raw chicken any day and how it’s a great staple to have in your fridge and freezer – it seriously has solved so many meal time dilemmas when we have nothing to cook and do not want to get into the whole “we need to defrost this entire package of chicken breast to cook dinner” situation.

So before getting into the Sausage and Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash  recipe, let’s recap why I love using al fresco all natural sausages at home:

• The endless variety of flavors, from Smoked Andouille to Spinach & Feta, the fully cooked chicken sausages are perfect for quick dinner recipes;
• Ease of defrosting – it’s not like defrosting a package of raw chicken at all. Typically, I store my sausages in the fridge, but in the occasion that I need to grab some from the freezer, they break off from the package and each other quite easily.
• Since they are fully cooked all natural sausages, all they need is to be warmed up – so my recipe takes even less time!
• They don’t have crap ingredients in them. For example, our favorite Spicy Jalapeño sausage has these ingredient list:  SKINLESS CHICKEN MEAT, ROASTED RED PEPPERS(RED PEPPERS, WATER, CITRIC ACID), WATER, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF SEA SALT, SUGAR, JALAPENO PEPPERS, ONION POWDER, GARLIC POWDER, NATURAL FLAVORS, IN A NATURAL PORK CASING.

Now, let’s get back to this recipe. Once you see the squash come out at the markets and grocery store, you know fall has arrived and to celebrate, this Sausage and Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash is just the recipe to make. An aromatic stuffing with sage and thyme, dotted with Sweet Apple chicken sausage along with the classic mirepoix of carrots, celery, and onion, makes this one a classic.

If your family has any dietary restrictions, you can:

• make this recipe gluten free by substituting the bread here for your favorite gluten free bread
• make this recipe dairy free by using almond or soy milk
• make this recipe egg-free by adding chia seeds to the bread/milk mixture instead of eggs

As you can see, it’s a very adaptable recipe for all family – the only thing they have to love eating an edible bowl of roasted sweet acorn squash!

Want to join in on the fun? Grab a package of al fresco all natural sausage and swap it in for raw chicken for delicious and convenient recipes. Do you have a staple recipe that requires chicken? Try using al fresco fully-cooked chicken sausage! Use the hashtag #ChickenSwapChallenge to share on social media! 

Sausage and Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash

This recipe for Sausage and Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash is the perfect welcoming to fall - aromatic herbs, sweet sausage, and crisp apples make this dish a family favorite!

Print Recipe

Prep Time:30 minutes mins

Cook Time:1 hour hr

Total Time:1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 4 small acorn squash cut in half
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 packages Sweet Apple al fresco all natural sausage chopped
• 1 small onion chopped
• 2 large carrots diced
• 3 stalks celery diced
• 2 apples chopped
• 2-3 bread rolls or your favorite bread, equal to one cup torn bread
• ½ cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons fresh sage chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme chopped

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350F. Brush the cut acorn squash with olive oil and season them with salt and pepper. Bake cut side up for about an hour, until golden brown and softened.
• While the squash bakes, make the stuffing. In a non-stick pan, sauce the sausage until crispy on all sides and then add the onion, carrots, celery, and apples.
• Cook for ten more minutes, until translucent.
• Soak the bread in the milk and whisked eggs while the stuffing cools for five minutes.
• Add the bread mixture to the cooled stuffing, seasoning with fresh chipped herbs.
• Once the squash is out of the oven, stuff with mixture and bake for 30 more minutes.
• Serve immediately with a side salad or as is.

Servings: 8 servings

Author: Marnely Murray

Disclaimer: This recipe is sponsored by al fresco all natural sausage and opinions (and love of acorn squash) are 100% my own. 

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